Silver jumps onboard Grand St. ferry stop idea; Writes to E.D.C.

BY CLARISSA-JAN LIM | In a letter forwarded to The Villager, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver expressed his support for a new ferry stop at the east of Grand St. to Kyle Kimball, executive director of the city’s Economic Development Corporation.

E.D.C. is currently considering expanding the East River ferry service. A ferry stop at Grand St., Silver wrote, would serve as a “faster and more accessible commute to the Financial District and Midtown,” as well as bringing in people to Lower East Side from other parts of the city. He also wrote that it would provide a link to Williamsburg and “other parts of Brooklyn that are home to their own burgeoning neighborhoods.”

Joseph Hanania, an advocate for the new ferry stop who collected signatures petitioning E.D.C. to put a ferry stop at the existing dock on Grand St., said it would help bring in new passenger traffic from Brooklyn and Queens and help revive the street, and “relieve congestion near the renewed East River Park athletic fields, and for heavily attended concerts/events at the East River bandshell.”

The petition now has close to 600 signatures.

The renovation of the East River esplanade and bikeway also could benefit from a Grand St. ferry stop, Silver said in his letter. The influx of new residents along Grand St. — which runs from Soho through Chinatown, Little Italy and the Lower East Side, to the East River — as well as new commercial and retail development in recent years, means many would benefit from a Grand St. ferry stop, he added.

On Wednesday, Hanania told The Villager, “I am thrilled that the Assembly speaker is backing the proposed ferry stop at Grand St. His backing may well be the decisive turning point in bringing this about.

“I also hope that the new proposed stop, coupled with a possible cafe at the ferry stop, which would be the only one yet in East River Park, will help feed a revival of the far Lower East Side by bringing in additional foot and bicycle traffic. I also hope that the additional passengers coming here will feed the existing bus lines — the 14th St. crosstown, the Houston St. crosstown and the No. 22 to Battery Park City, helping us get more frequent bus service.

“Most importantly,” Hanania said, “we still need a subway stop that is closer to our area. Right now, it is about a 12-minute walk from Grand St. and the F.D.R. to the nearest subway station. I discussed several weeks ago with one of Mr. Silver’s assistants the desirability of a stop on the M line at either Pitt St. or at Clinton St. and Delancey.

“Other areas of the city are getting entirely new lines,” Hanania noted, “including the Second Ave. subway and the subway line going into the Hudson Yards. We are asking only for an additional needed stop on an existing line. I hope the additional activity generated by the ferry stop will help bring all this about.”

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How about taking a Citibike? There is a station in Corlears Hook park, right across the bridge from the ferry. Also, the bus from Delancey/Essex subway station to Grand and FDR, by the ferry, is a 5 minute ride, max. I've ridden it a dozen times. The slow traffic you speak of goes the other way, from FDR to Clinton St., where traffic turns off to the Williamsburg Bridge. And the 14A bus bypasses about a third of that stretch at the eastern end of Grand St. The rest is normal NYC traffic. And by encouraging people to ferry, rather than take their cars, the ferry would also help alleviate that, though in a minor way. Incidentally, if you change your mind and support the ferry stop, go to change.org, under serach type in East River Ferry, and sign the petition. Thanks.